Red Tape

When we talk about ridiculous levels of red tape and our Government here is a perfect example.

Dates of importance:
September 22, 2025 Last Filing day for nomination paperwork
October 20, 2025 Election Day

Email from Red Deer Elections today:

=

"You may or may not be aware that recent amendments to Section 147.4 of the Local Authorities Election Act (LAEA) have introduced changes to campaign finance reporting requirements for candidates.

While candidates have always been required to disclose campaign contributions, expenses, and any resulting surplus or deficit, the updated legislation now includes two separate filing deadlines for the 2025 election year:

October 1, 2025 – for contributions and expenses incurred between January 1 and July 31, 2025
March 2, 2026 – for contributions and expenses incurred between January 1 and December 31, 2025

All disclosure statements must be submitted using Form 26 – Campaign Disclosure Statement and Financial Statement, which is available at elections.reddeer.ca.

Please ensure you are familiar with these requirements to avoid penalties, including a potential $500 fine for late filing"

=

So, they would like us to file a financial statement for our campaign, a period ending July 31, 2025, even though we aren't official candidates until September 22, 2025 (the last day to file nomination papers).

The financial statement is for a period ending nearly 3 months before our election campaigns have concluded.

Then, at the end of the year — which actually makes sense — they require a full statement of your expenses and contributions, along with your surplus or deficit, filed before March as is typical.

What’s the point of filing a financial statement three months before the campaign even ends, other than to give some government employee something to do? I could maybe understand a deadline like September 22, 2025 (barely, but let’s play along), but three months before your campaign is over?

I mean, I don't care about filing one personally, it's not like I have big corporate sponsors or religious groups hiding in the background contributing to my campaign. My statement will likely be a deficit since, so far, I've been paying for it entirely out of my pocket - which is to say very little spent at all.

Now that’s some bizarre red tape with no real explanation — July 31st? So, if you’re planning to run for election, just keep your expenses low until then so you look fiscally responsible, and after August 1st, go on a spending spree! That way, voters won’t find out how terrible you are at budgeting and who your contributors are until March next year after you are elected.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs is typically the one responsible for passing legislation like this. ​